Sewer-flushing device



April 1 3 L. F. KATONA 1,756,596

SEWER FLUSHING DEVICE Filed Feb. 21. 1929 l NVE'NTOR. I W

ATTORNEY mentsof the valve are so slow as to at times bodiment of theinvention,

Patented Apr. 29, 1930 v r p p i UNITED STATES TT OFFICE,

LOUIS F. KATONA, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

SEWER-FLUSHING nnvrcn Application filed February 21, 1929. Serial No.341,598.

This invention relates to an improved type render the action quiteunreliable and uncerof sewer flushing device and is particularly tain.directed to that general class of devices which It is therefore afurther object of the presautomatically function to periodically disentinvention to substitute for said overflow 5 charge a predeterminedvolume of flushing principle a principle of service water con water intoa sewer system. trol in which an automatic service valve is A device ofthis general character comcontrolled by the level of water in the wellprises a flushing well having a valved outlet to direct a full serviceflow into the operatcommunicating with the sewer conduit to be ingbucket when said well water reaches a 10 flushed, said valve beingarranged to be auto predetermined height, so as to rapidly fillmatically opened by mechanism controlled by said bucket, and to providean arrangement a predetermined head of water which is perby means ofwhich such full service flow into mitted to flow into the well at apredeterthe bucket is extended beyond the point of mined preferably slowrate. perfect counterbalance and until the weight 15 In a prior Patent,No. 1,642,659, issued of water thus flowing into the bucket appre-September 13, 1927, to C. R. Lion, there is ciably predominates over theopposed weight disclosed a device of this general nature havof the mainflushing valve, thus insuring a ing a flushing valve which is operatedby a positive and quick opening of said flushing V tripping pan orbucket situated in a pit below valve. e

20 the floor-board of the well and adapted to It is a further object toprovide a device receive the overflow from the well until said of theabove character, having a service valve pan contains a sufficient weightof water to which closes at a water level appreciably less overbalancethe weight of the valve so as to than that required to open said servicevalve, open said valve and release the water conwhereby a full serviceflow is directed into 25 tained in the well, thus effecting the sewerthe operating bucket an appreciable period flushing operation. of timeafter the flushing valve begins to In devices of this character, theposition open. ing of the pan or bucket in a pit below the Manythousands of sewer flushing devices floor-board of the well, upon whichfloorof the character disclosed in the said patent 30 board the entiremechanism is supported and to C. R. Lion are now in actual service, par

from which said pan is suspended, has proven tieularly i th ity and nt fLos A to be oblectionable that. it is eXtremely geles, California, andon account of the suunaccessible for l dl m and for perior character ofthe herein described imthe reason that in order to substitute a newmovements i is Very desirous f being able P one Whlch 18 no longerServlcefible to economically apply such improvements to i it becomesnecessary to dismount h entire such flushing devices, therefore suchimproveuppe? structure and remove the f ments are herein shown as beingparticularly 1 2 therefor? anroblect of h presetlt madaptable forconvenient and quick applica- Ventlon to Provide a sewer fiushmg devlceof tion to the standard type of device illustrated the general characterreferred to, in which, all of the mechanism is positioned above the In ii and 1t 15 an qblect of the Pres ent lnvention to produce nnprovementsof floor-board and is readily accessible for rethe above character whichy be so com palr or replacement of Parts. 7 bined with such standardstructure.

'1 a t d V r In the devlce Illustrated m'salc P en an Various other obects and advantages Wlll be more fully apparent from the following inother similar devices operating upon the overflow principle, it has beenfound that q the slow overflow brings about a tripping of ClQSPYIPlHOIl0f the co pany ng raWlllgS the mechanism at such a delicate point ofwhich form a part of thls disclosure and balance that the opening andclosing movewhich illustrate a preferred form of em- In the drawings:Fig. 1 is a vertical section illustrating the flushing device of thepresent invention as mounted for operation within the well of a sewersystem.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail section taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a detailed plan view of the operating bucket and the end ofthe walkingbeam to which it is connected.

' In the drawings, 10 designates a well of any particular desireddesign, having at its top a manhole ring 11 closed by an inner pan 12and an outer manhole cover 13, preferably located approximately levelwith the street or ground surface.

Below the floor level of the well 10 is a pit 14 located at the head ofa sewer conduit 15, and mounted between the well 10 and the pit l l is afloor-board 16, preferably formed of wood which has been treated withasphalt or other suitable material to render it watertight, saidfloor-board being preferably calked in a-metal frame 17 which issecurely anchored in the masonry of the well.

The floor-board 16 forms a support for the entire mechanism of thedevice and has a valvedopening 18 therein constituting a dis charge,port establishing direct communication between the well and the sewerconduit 15. An annular tapered valve seat 19 is secured in said opening18 by screws 20 and cooperating with said seat is a valve 21 having atapered valve ring 22 preferably formed of rubber and held in an annulargroove in said valve by its inherent tension.

Secured to the floor-board by bolts 23 is a tubular standard 24:extending upwardly to a point somewhat above a predetermined high waterlevel and having an overflow opening 25 above said level, the interiorof said standard communicating with the pit A so that in event offailure of the mechanism to open the flushing valve, the flushing fluidflowing into the well 10 may overflow through the overflow opening 25and discharge through said standard into the sewer. The standard 24 haslaterally and upwardly extending fulcrum arms 26 carrying,

a fulcrum pin 27 upon which fulcrums 'a walking-beam 28. To one end ofsaid walking-beam is pivotally connected a valve rod 29 which extendsdownwardly through the outer end of a guide arm 26 extending outwardlyfrom the medial portion of the standthose of the device disclosed in thePatent No. 1,256,656, issued February 19, 1918, to G. H. Burns.

The means which I employ for opening the flushing valve 21 includes anoperating bucket 30 positioned abovethe body of flushing water in theWell and carried by the forked end of the walking-beam 28. In theparticular embodiment herein illustrated the meansemployed forconnecting the bucket 30 to the walking-beam 28 comprises an arm 31which is preferably made of a flat metal bar having trunnion pins 32welded to the edges thereof, as indicated at 32 in Fig. 3, and having apivot bar 33 welded at its medial portion to the upper outer end of saidarm 31 as indicated at 33 in Fig. 3. This arm 31 has an inner lower end31 and the opposite free ends of the pivot bar extend into the bores ofpivot blocks 3 1' which are secured to the respective upper marginalwalls 35' at opposite ends of the bucket 3 The bucket 30 is thusdependingly and piv otally supported upon the outer upper end of the arm31. In assembling the bucket supporting arm 31 upon the forked end of Vthe walking-beam 28, the inner lower end 31 of the arm 31 is insertedbetween the limbs 28 and beneath the arm 28 and the trunnion pins 32 arelowered into the depressions 28, as shown in Figs. 1, and 3. By reasonof this particular arrangement, the

arm 31 and the operating bucket 30 may seat 43 secured in place by alock-nut 44: 'engaging the screw-threaded shank of said seat andclamping against the bottom wallof the bucket. A cap 45 is screwed uponthe lower end of said valve seat shank and is provided with a dischargeorifice 46 through which the operating rod 47 of a drain valve 18extends, said rod being considerably smaller in diameter than saiddischarge orifice, to permit free passage of fluid through said orifice.Said valve rod 47 extends downwardly to within a short distance of theupper surface of the floor-board 16 whenthe mechanism is in normalcondition with the drain valve 48 closed, this slight spacing of thevalve rod 47 from the floor-board being for the purposeof al lowing afree .closingof said valve.

The means'which I employ to slowly fill the flushing well and to quicklyfill the operatingbucketwhen the well becomes full, will now bedescribed. 7 v

A float controlled service valve mechanism includes a-valve body 51suitably secured to I the standard by a bracket 35 and having a pressurechamber 52 communicating with a service pipe 53 conneetedtoithe ci'tywater'sys? tem or other source of water under pressure. A dischargechamber '54 communicates with .said pressure chamber 52, through apassage which is controlled by a service valve 55, and with a bucketfilling conduit 56 of gooseneck form which extends upwardly aconsiderable distance and thence downwardly into the upper end of thebucket 30.

The stem 57 of the service valve extends downwardly through the valvebody 51and through a guide bracket 58 formed on said body and betweenthe body 51 and the bracket 58 said valve stem 57 has a reduced portion59 (see Fig. 2) providing opposed shoulders 60. Extending on oppositesides of said reduced portion 50 so as to engage the opposed shoulders60 are two fork arms 61 of a valve operating lever 62, said arms beingpivoted on a pivot pin 63 in the bracket 58 and the lever 62 beingprovided with afloat 64 by means of which the valve 55 is operated. Thewall of the pressure chamber 52 has a very small outlet port 65 throughwhich the flushing water is discharged from the service line directlyinto the well,,as indicated in Fig. 1, and the wall of the dischargechamber 54 has a drain port 66, said outlet port 65 being very minute ascompared to the size of the service pipe 53 and the filling conduit 56,for instance, where these pipes are one-half inch in size, said port 65will preferably be the size of a standardnumber sixty drill.

Describing the operation of the device, it

is assmued that the mechanism is in a normal condition with the flushingvalve seated and the service water turned on. Under these conditions thepressure of the service water acting upon the upper surface of theclosed service valve 55 will tend to hold said valve closed and a verysmall portion of the service water will slowly discharge from thepressure chamber 52 through the minute port .65, thus slowly filling themain flushing well 10.

In practice a sewerflushing well of ordinary size will have a capacityof aboutSOO gallons of flushing water and the filling jet dischargedfrom the port 65 will be of such small volume that from twenty totwentyfour hours time will be required in which to fill the flushingwell.

As the water level reaches a proper predetermined height as illustratedin Fig. 1, the water will exert av buoyant force upon the float 64 butuntil this force is sufficient to over- 7 come the service waterpressure exerted upon the upper surface of the closed service valve 55,the float 64 will remain in its normal lower position and become moresubmerged as the water level rises. When,'through such increasedsubmergence, the float has sufiicient lifting power, the valve 55 willbe opened. However, such opening will not be a slow gradual opening butwill be a relatively quick opening since as soon as the valve 55 iscracked or just slightly opened to allow a counterbalancing ofpressures, upon opposite sides of the valve, the full elevating forcedue- [to the excess subinergence of the float required to initiallycrackthe valve, is nolonger necessary; therefore, the float thusrelieved of the majority of its burden, will immediately bob upwardly toseek a higher level, more nearly floating upon the surface ofthe water,and efiect a quick full opening of the service valve. This will beresponsible for a corresponding lag in the time .of closing of thisvalve, as will be later referred to.

Uponthe opening of the service valve 55 when the well is filled to thedesired level, approximately the full service supply (excepting thesmall amount whichcontinues to flow into the mainwell through thefilling port 65, and a-small amount whichwill, as later described,fiowthrough a safety port 66) will flow through the gooseneck conduit 56to fil the operating bucket 30. q

The flow of service water into the operating bucket 30 will increase theweight hanging upon the outer end of the arm 31 of the walking-beamwhich connects said bucket with the flushing valve 21 and when thisweight overloalances the weight of the flush- 1 ing valve, the operatingbucket will start to descend to correspondingly open the flushing valve.r l

Contributing to the positive opening of the flushing valve, will be thelag (previously re ferred to) in. the closing of the service valve 55.Of course it will be understood thatas soon as the'flushing valve startsto open, the flushing water in the well will start to discharge into thepit 14 and sewer 15, through the opening 18,- thus causing a lowering ofthe water level in the well. However, due to the upward bob of the float64 during the openingof the servicevalve .55, said valve 55 will notcompletely close until the water is at a much lower level than thatwhich was required to cause said valve to crack and byreason of this lagin the closing of the service valve, the maximum flow of service waterinto the operating bucket 30 will con tinue for an appreciable timeafter the flushingvalve starts to open.

The operating bucket 30-retains all of the water which flows into ituntil said bucket descends a sufiicient distance to cause the lower endof the stem 47 of the drain valve 48 to contact with the upper surface:of the floor-board 16, whereupon said drain valve of the flushing wellbefore sufficient water has drained from the operating bucket 30 actualservice, the full opening movement of the flushing valve is effected ina sub 'stantial ly instantaneous manner after the operating bucket isfilled and an appreciable time will elapse before the water level in thewell will lower sufficiently to effect a closing of the service valveand during this time the service water will continue to flow into theoperating bucket at least as fast as it drains through the drain port46.

The flushing opening 18 is of suflicient size to discharge the 300gallons of. water in the well in about thirty seconds, and thisdischarge is so fast in relation to the draining of the weight waterfrom the bucket through the drain port 46 that there is plenty of timefor the well to fully discharge its flushing water before the mechanismagain starts to normalize.

, As previously mentioned, the drain port 66 in the service valve body52 is a safety feature intended to take care of any ordinary leakage inthe service valve; that is, in case of ordinary leakage the waterleaking past the closed service valve 55 will drain through the port 66in preference to flowing upwardly over the gooseneck of the conduit 56,such port 66 being able to take care ofvalve leak: age up to at least aleakage equal to the full draining capacity of such drain port. Thisdraining capacityis sufiicient to take care of all ordinaryvalve'leaka-ge, however, if a leakage greater than said capacity occurs,the excess leakage will of course pass over into the: operatingbucketbut this will only cause more frequent operations of the device.

Such a situation will never occur in actual practice since this drainport 66 is approximately one-quarter of an inch in diameter and avalveleakage even approaching such volume would be readily noted andeliminated by repair upon one of the regular periodic inspections towhich all municipal sewer flushing devices are subjected.

' Ithas been previously explained how the lag in the full closing of theservice valve causes'the service waterto flow-into the operatingbucket'for an appreciable time after the flushing valve 2lstarts toopen. This is a: desirablefeature-which is further augmentedby theprovision of th'edrain opening 66 reason of the fact that'after the"service valve 55 is" opened and. while the operating bucket 30" isbeingfilled, said drain port 66 is discharging water into the well and thus"con; tinuing the raising of the waterlevel in the Welland thegrearersubmergence of the then Stariena-ry float 4., with suchresulting delayService Vail V8 55 in felt}- may be converted into the improved type ofV device herein disclosed.

' In converting any of such standard flushing devices into one of myimproved type, all that is required is to disengage the upper end of thebucket rod of such prior devices from the walking-beam thereof, lowerthe bucket to rest uponthe floor of the pit, then disengage said bucketrod from the bucket and withdraw said rod upwardly through the standardand from the well, the bucket 70 remaining in the pit where it will notinterfere with the operation of my device. bucket 30 and arm 31 ofmyimproved arrangement may be quickly installed upon the walking-beam 28,as previously explained, and the service valve supporting bracket may beconveniently attached to the side wall of the upper end of the standard24, as shown in Fig. 1.

From the above description it will be apparent that I have provided animproved sewer flushing device in which the flushing well is slowlyfilled by a minute flow from the After this is done, the

service line and when the flushing water It will also be apparent thatthe improved features of the device herein illustrated are particularlyadapted for the converting of the old standard types of flushing devicesherein referred to, into flushing devices embodying the features andadvantages of the present invention.

The bucket draining valve 48 is of particular advantage when the serviceline pressure is relatively low. However, in cases where the servicepressure is relatively high so that the water would flow into the bucketa great deal faster than it could possibly drain throughthe bucket drainport 46, the bucket drain valv'e48 could, if desired, be dispensed withwithout departing from the broad features of the present invention, andwhile the particular embodiment illustrated and described herein isfully capable of fulfilling the objects primarily stated. it is to beunderstood that I do not wish to limitthe invention thereto, 'f'or'i't'is" susceptible 6f embodiment iIi various other forms coming within thefull scope of the following claims.

I claim as my invention: I V

1. In a sewer flushing device, the combination of: a well adapted tocontain a body of flushing fluid and having an outlet communicating witha sewer; a flushing valve normally closing said outlet; valve operatingmeans including an actuatingbucket adapted to open said valve when saidvbucket receives apredetermined amount of water; a service municat-ingwith a sewer;-a flushing valve normally closing said outlet; valveoperating means including an actuating-bucket adapted to open said valvewhen said bucket receives a predetermined amount ofwater; a service.water pipe line having a goose-neck discharge conduit adapted todischarge service water directly into said actuating bucket;a'normallyclosed service valve in said pipe line; and means controlledby the body of flushing fluid in said well and functioning to open saidservice valve when said flushing fluid reaches a predetermined level andthereby cause said bucket to be filledto effect an opening oftheflushing valve, there being a relatively small drain opening in theservice pipe line between the service valve and the goose-neck dischargeconduit for discharging leakage due to a faulty; closing of said servicevalve and for discharginga portion of said service water directly intothe well when the service valve is open.

3. In a sewer flushing device, the combina tion of: a well adapted tocontain a body of flushing fluid and having an outlet communicating witha sewer; a flushing valve normally closing said outlet; valve operatingmeans including an actuating bucket adapted to open said valve when saidbucket receives a predetermined amount of water; a service water pipeline having a relatively small port discharging a minor volume of theavailable service water into said well and a terminal discharge conduitadapted to discharge service water directly into said actuating bucket;a normally closed service valve in said pipe line between said port andsaid discharge conduit; and means controlled by thebody of fiushingfluid in said well and functioning to open said service valve when saidflushing fluidreaches a predetermined bucket to effect an opening of theflushing valve. Y

4. In a sewer flushing device, the cornbination of: a well adaptedto'contain a body. of clear flushing water and having an outletcommunicating with a sewer a flushingvalve normally closing said outlet;valve operating means including an actuating bucket adapted toreceiveonly clear water-and functioning to open said valve when saidbucket receives a predetermined amount of said water; a service waterpipe line having a discharge conduit adapted to discharge service waterdirectly into said actuating bucket; a normally closed service valve insaid pipe line; and float means controlled by the body of flushingwater'in said well and functioning to open said service valve when saidflushing water v reaches a predetermined level and thereby causesaidbucket to be filled with service water to efiect an opening of theflushing valve. i Y

5. In a sewer flushing device, the combination of: a well adapted tocontain a body of flushing fluid and having an outletcommunicating witha sewer;,a flushing valve normally closingsaid. outlet; valve operatingmeans including an actuating bucket adapted to open said valve when saidbucket receives a predetermined amountofwater; a service water pipe linehaving a discharge conduit adapted to: discharge service water underpressure directly into said actuating bucket; a normally closed servicevalve in said pipe line; and float means controlled by the body offlushing fluid in said well and functioning to open said service valvewhen said flushing fluid, reaches a predetermined level and therebycause said bucket to be filled touefl'ect an opening of the flushingvalve,

said service valve being arranged to open against the service waterpressure, whereby a major submergence of said float is required toovercome the service Water pressure and start to open the service valveto effect a counterbalance of pressure on opposite sides of said valveand thus relieve said float of its major burden whereupon said floatimmediately raises toa point of minor submergence'f to effect a quickfull opening of the service valve.

6. In a sewer flushing device, the combination of a well adapted tocontain a body of flushing fluid and having an outlet communicating witha sewer; a flushing valve normally closing said outlet; valve operatingmeans including 'an actuating bucket, said valve normally overbalancingthe bucket to hold it elevated and the bucket being adapted tooverbalance and open. said flushing valve when said bucket receivesapredetermined amount of water; a service water pipe line having adischarge conduit adapted to dis- I resentecharge service; waterdirectly into said" a ctu' ating bucket; anorm'ally closed service valvein saidpipe line; means controlled by" the bodyof flushingfluid in saidwell and functioning to opensaid service valve when the flushingfluidreaches a predetermined levelandthereby cause said bucket to befilled to' overbalance and open the flushing'valve and to close saidservice valve after the flushing valve is opened; and meanspermitting arelatively slow draining of the actuating bucket afterit operates theflushing valve.

' '7; r In a sewer flushing device, the combinamined amount of'wat'er,said bucket having a restricted drain orifice; a drain valve closingsaid drain orifice when'said bucket is in elevated position; a servicewater pipe line having a discharge conduit adapted to discharge servicewater'directly into said actuating bucket ;anormally closed servicevalve in said pipe line; means controlled by the body of flushing fluidin said well and functio'ning to open said service valve when theflushing fluid reaches a predetermined level and thereby cause saidbucket to be filled to overbalance and open the flushing valve and toclose'said service valve after the flushing valve is opened; and meansfunctioning. to open said drain valve when the actuating bucketdescends, for permitting a relativelyslow draining of the actuatingbucket after it operates the flushing valve.

8'. In a sewer flushing device, the combination of a well adapted tocontain a body of flushing fluid and having an outlet communicating witha sewer; a flushing valve normally closing said outlet; a standardhaving a fulcrum arm; a walking-beam pivotally supported upon saidfulcrum arm, said walkingbeam on one side of its fulcrum being connectedto said flushing valve and having a forked end on the opposite side ofits ful- 7 mm; an operating bucket normally positioned above the'maximumwater level in said well; and a supporting arm for said bucketdetachably engaging the forked end of said walking-beam in a manner toform a substantially rigid extension thereof. v

9. In combination: a walking-beam for a sewer flushing device; anoperating bucket flushing device, said unit comprising' a bucket, asupporting arm connected to saidbucket and having "laterally projectingtrunnions on its free end portion spaced from the terminal free end ofsaid arm.

11. An operating bucket for opening the flushing valve of a sewerflushing device, said bucket having a drain opening {in its lower wallsurrounded by a valve seat, and a drain valve independent of saidflushing valve for closing said drain opening and having'adependingvalve rod extending through'said' opening and adapted for engagement bya stationary object when said bucket is lowered, 12. An operating bucketfor opening the flushing valve of asewer flushing devlce, said buckethavin a drain oaenin surrounded by a valve seat, a'dra-i'n valveindependent of said flushing valve for closing said-drain opening, andmeans for opening said drain valve when said bucket is lowered. v

13; An operating bucket for opening the fiushingvalve ofa sewer flushingdevice, said bucket having a drain'opening, and'a, drain valveindependent ofsaid'fiushing valve for controlling said drain opening.

1 1; An operating'bu'cket' for opening the flushing valve of a sewerflushing device, said valve independent of said flushing valve andhaving a valve rod adapted for engagement by a stationary object to opensaid drain valve when the bucket is lowered.

15. In asewer fi'ushingdevice, the combina tion of: a well adapted tocontain a body of flushing fluid and having an outlet communicating witha sewer; a flushing valve norinally closing said outlet; an actuatingbucket adapted toopen sai'd flushing valve a'nd having a drain opening;a drain valve for closing said drain opening; and means for operatingsaid drain valve. I

16. In a sewer flushing device, the combination of: a flushing valve; astandard; a walking-beam fulcrumed on said standard,

said walking-beam on one side of its fulcrum being connected to saidflushing valve; an operating bucket; and a supporting arm for saidbucket detachably engaging the oppo site free end of said walking-beamin a manner to form a'sub-stantially rigid extension thereof. j

17. In a sewer flushing device, the combination of z a well adapted tocontain a body of flushing fluid and having an outlet communicating witha sewer; aflushing valve normally closing said outlet; a stationarysupport; a walking-beam fulcrumed on said support and having one endconnected to said valve; an operating bucket normally positioned abovethe maximum water level in said well; and means for connecting, saidbucket to the opposite free end of said walking; beam.

18; In a sewer flushing device, the combibucket having'a drainopening-and a drain nation of: a well adapted to contain a body offlushing water and having an outlet communicating with a sewer; aflushing valve normally closing said outlet; valve operating meansincluding an actuating bucket adapted to open said valve when saidbucket receives a predetermined amount of water, said bucket having adrain opening; a service water pipe line having a discharge conduitadapted to discharge service water directly into said actuating bucket;and means for controlling said drain opening.

19. In a. sewer flushing device, the combination of: a well adapted tocontain a bodyof flushing fluid and having an outlet communicating witha sewer; a flushing valve normally closing said outlet; and an actuatingbucket adapted to open said flushing valve and normally situated abovethe maximum fluid level in said well.

20. In a sewer flushing device, the combination of: a well adapted tocontain a body of flushing water and having an outlet communicating witha sewer; a flushing valve normally closing said outlet; an actuatingbucket adapted to open said flushing valve when said bucket receives apredetermined amount of water; a service water pipe line dischargingdirectly into said actuating bucket, said bucket having a drain opening;and float controlled means for controlling said drain opening.

21. In a sewer flushing device, the combination of: a well adapted tocontain a body of flushing water and having an outlet communicating witha sewer; a flushing valve normally closing said outlet; an actuatingbucket adapted to open said flushing valve when said bucket receives apredetermined amount of water; and a service water pipe line dischargingdirectly into said actuating bucket.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand at Los Angeles,California this 16th day of February, 1929.

LOUIS F. KATONA.

